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Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

When I make cinnamon rolls my family smiles.Sometimes they even cheer.

The moment that the rolls are ready to come out of the oven we gather around and eat the warm, soft, gooey bites of heaven dripping with orange icing.

I bake with lots of very strong cinnamon to balance the sweetness of the brown sugar and the icing.

I tried something new a few days ago, I added cocoa to the cinnamon and brown sugar.

I’m very picky about my cocoa.I keep a pretty big selection of cocoa in my cupboard because it is important to match the cocoa to the other flavors that you are baking with.My family doesn’t seem to mind the cupboard space filled with chocolate and cocoa.

For the cinnamon roll experiment I used a very rich, strong dark chocolate called Extra Brut made by Cacao Barry.You won’t find it in the grocery store. I order it from Bill Fredericks at http://www.chocolateman.com/ , a source with a vast selection of chocolate and cocoa.

The dark chocolate mixed with the strong cinnamon then topped with the orange made a near perfect combination for a cold morning.Deep, intense flavors that were meant to be blended together.

I wanted to take a picture of them to post but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.

Long version: I’m a chocolate enthusiast / blogger who left behind common chocolate to seek out the slow melt, diverse flavors, and creative personalities of the fine chocolate world.

The first time I encountered the complex, delicate aromas, and varied textures of fine chocolate sparked a fascination, almost immediately the journey to find and fully understand and share the wonder of fine cacao began.

My hunger for learning more about every aspect of the chocolate industry takes me around the world to meet with cacao farmers, chocolate makers, shop owners, and visit chocolate events.

I'm co-founder of the Pacific Northwest Chocolate Society. I’m also a member of the Chocolate Aficionados Guild, participant in the Cacao Grader program, contributor to various lifestyle, cooking, and chocolate publications, and a judge for chocolate competitions.

I love to travel with my family, and enjoy some form of chocolate every day.